


Fish in the Sea

by perniciousLizard



Series: Hot and Cold Blooded (Alphyne Collection) [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Minor Grillby/Sans, Post-Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 16:58:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7181363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perniciousLizard/pseuds/perniciousLizard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Undyne’s been planning the wedding proposal for a long time, and now everything’s perfect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a part of my [sansby series](http://archiveofourown.org/series/403036), and the proposal was mentioned in [this fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6453085/chapters/14768626), but this story is primarily a post-pacifist Alphys/Undyne wedding fic and it was written with the intention that the reader would not have to read the Sans/Grillby stuff to get what’s going on in this one.

The wind rushed in over the water.  The sun was setting over the beach, and Undyne could feel the perfect moment approaching.  The light dress Alphys wore over her bathing suit rustled in the wind, and she had to grab at her hat to keep it from flying away.  Undyne thrust back her shoulders and let her hair be wildly tossed by the sudden gust.  She was ready.  

“Alphys!” she burst out.  "I have something to say!“  

Alphys clung to her hat, and looked up at her.  She seemed nervous.  Maybe she had caught a little bit of Undyne’s mood.  "W-what is it? Um, I…I have something to say, too?  I think.  No, I do!”  

“You all right?” Undyne asked.  "You look like you’re going to puke.“  Maybe she should put it off.  Nothing messed up a mood like someone being actually sick, and she really didn’t want the mood messed with.  

"I kind of feel like I’m going to, but…”  She trailed off and looked out towards the sea.  She was very still, her normal nervous energy seeping out of her.  "Undyne?“

"Yeah, babe?  We can go inside.  I’ll say it later!”  Undyne dropped her hand on Alphys’ shoulder.  She grinned, trying to sooth Alphys a little, but not sure how.  She gripped the material of Alphys’ dress and took a step back towards their rental.

“Undyne, wait!  Stop a second!  I’m fine, I just – I just really have to say this, and I have to do it now!”  

“Okay, sure!  I like this energy!  Let’s hear it!”  Undyne turned back towards her.  

“I have s-something for you.”  She let go of her hat for a second to pat at the pockets of her sundress.  Panic flashed across her face and then relief as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a neat looking blue shell.  

“Oh, hey, that’s like…what’s that from?  Oh!  That’s from that farming game!”  Undyne lit up.  

“Y-yeah.”

Undyne reached for it, but Alphys pulled it away.

“I got it for you, but…there’s a condition!  No, shoot, that r-really isn’t how I wanted to say this, god.”  

Undyne suddenly remembered what the blue shell in the game was  _for_. But that _couldn’t_ be right.  

“Um, Undyne?  Will you…will you…” her voice kept getting quieter.  There was another gust of wind, and Undyne missed what she said next.  

“What?  Sorry!  I can’t hear you!”  

Alphys closed her eyes, her hand clenching around the shell.  When she looked at Undyne again, there was an intensity in her look that thrilled Undyne to her very core.  "Undyne!  I love you so much!  I want you to marry me!“  It drained out of her, in an instant. "I mean, um, please?  If you w-want?”

Undyne stared at her, open mouthed, through the whole proposal.  As the last of Alphys’ confidence drained away, Undyne found herself grinning.  “I’m so pissed off right now!”  

“W-what?”

“I set up this vacation!  I rented this romantic cottage!  I waited until sunset to ask you to come out here!  And after all that planning, you beat me to it!  I can’t believe it!”  

She grabbed Alphys around the waist and lifted her into the air.  Alphys’ hat fell off, got caught in the wind, and quickly disappeared, lost in the sea.  

“W-what are you–”

“You won, Alphys!  You’re amazing!  I thought I had it, but you snuck in at the end and kicked my ass!”  She swung Alphys around.  "I guess that means I have to pick the venue first or something.  And the theme!"

"Is that…yes?”

Undyne looked up at her, staring.  Had she skipped a step?  Wait!  She totally had.  "Fuhuhuhu!  Alphys, of course I’m marrying you!  I am going to marry you SO HARD you’ll forget what it was like not to be married!  You’re going to be so freaking married, and so cherished and loved by me for the rest of your life!  IT’S GOING TO BE AMAZING! Because you’re amazing, and I’m amazing, and—NGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!“ She threw Alphys into the air and caught her again.  "LET’S DO THIS, ALPHYS!”  

Alphys looked a little green, and she sounded like she’d lost her breath.  But she was smiling.  "Yeah!  Let’s get m-married!  We’re going to do this!"

"YEAH! THAT’S THE SPIRIT!”  She hugged her, tight, and then gave her a kiss that she could only hope showed Alphys her intense, burning passion.  

They ran back to the cottage and Alphys threw up in the bathroom.  Undyne was so proud of her, for putting herself out there like this.  Why had Undyne wanted to be the one who proposed first?  This was so much better!  She called Papyrus while Alphys was cleaning herself up, and he started crying on the other end of the line.

Alphys was a pale yellow when she finally unlocked the bathroom door and emerged.  Undyne set the phone down.  She could still hear Papyrus talking and crying, but now she could also hear Alphys.  

“I’m…god, I’m sorry.  I don’t know why I got so sick.”

“Are you kidding?  Puking your guts out right after you propose just shows how sincere you are!”

“Does it?”

“Absolutely!  I’d probably be in there if I’d beaten you to the punch!”

“Were you…were you really planning on…p-proposing, too?”

Undyne grabbed a necklace out of her own pocket and shoved it towards Alphys.  "I said I’d marry you, already.  Will you marry _me_ , Alphys?"

A few tears were leaking out of Alphys’ eyes and she wiped her snout on the back of her arm before she took the necklace.  "Undyne, oh my god, it’s beautiful.  It’s exactly like the one from Princess Striker.  I can’t believe it.”

Undyne helped her put it on.  

“Of…of course I’ll marry you, Undyne.  I’m…I’m going to marry the hell out of you!”  

“Yeah! We’re going to marry the hell out of each other!”  She held up her hand and Alphys tentatively high-fived her.  


	2. Chapter 2

Alphys was hard at work in the basement, and when Undyne shouted down that tea was on, she yelled back up that she’d just be a minute.  Undyne figured that meant a couple hours, but that’s just how Alphys was when she was busy.  

When Undyne went back into the kitchen, Asgore had already settled down at the table.  She noticed that he had managed to get cookie crumbs in his beard, even though he pretended he was waiting for her, Alphys, and Papyrus to start in on the snacks.  

"She says she’ll be a minute, but–”

Papyrus’ loud signature knock interrupted her.  

“Hey!”  She flung the door open.  "Get in here, loser!  The hot water’s getting cold!"  

She wasn’t sure how he had managed to knock, his arms full of stuff he needed her to look at for the wedding.  

"If I find out you were kicking my door, that’s not the only thing getting kicked today!” she said.  She grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.  

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER STOOP SO LOW!”  he looked around.  “EVEN WHEN HE IS THE SHORTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM?”  

“Alphys is busy!”

“BUT…SHE ALSO NEEDS TO SEE THIS PAMPHLET ON FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS?”

Undyne glanced at Asgore.  "I invited an expert over!“  

"All the energy in here is invigorating,” Asgore said, smiling.  Undyne noticed that there was one less cookie on the plate and there was an increase in the crumbs in his beard.  That’s what she got for turning her back on him to answer the door.  "If you do not mind, I would love to provide the flowers.  As a gift."

Score!  She and Papyrus could check that one off the list, and high five later over that their plan working out.    

Alphys made it upstairs a half an hour into their tea.  

"Oh! H-hello, everyone!  I didn’t know…so many people…were going to…”  She shook her head and pulled off her glasses to wipe them on her lab coat.  "I mean, hi!"  She settled them back on her face and tried to smile.  

Asgore stood up and grasped Alphys’ hand in his two enormous paws.  "I wanted to congratulate you, my dear.  I remember you both from when you were small, and I never imagined…” he shook her hand, vigorously.  "It is so wonderful that you found each other."

"Th-thank you…um, Asgore, I really…I really appreciate…” She was blushing.

It was too freaking cute and Undyne almost crushed her teacup in her hand.  

“GOOD!  YOU’RE HERE!  WE CAN FINALLY ADDRESS THE CATERING!”  Papyrus swept all the books off the table that they had been looking at. The list of caterers was sitting underneath them.

“Um…great!” Alphys looked nervous.  "I’m…so glad I came up here so we c-could do that!" 

Alphys sat down with them, and Asgore said his regretful goodbyes a few minutes later.  They went down through the list, but Alphys had very little to say about any of the choices.  She took a few small sips of her tea, and then let it grow cold.  Undyne shoved the plate of cookies at her, wondering if she had forgotten to eat anything since they got up, but Alphys just picked at one.  

Papyrus collected all his notes and books and left, and Alphys and Undyne were finally alone.  

"Um, hey, Alphys…” Undyne started.  

“Oh my god, is that the time?  I can’t believe I took that long a break!” Alphys jumped up from her chair, almost knocking it over.  "I still have so much I have to do today!“  She hurried to the door.

"Alphys!”

She stopped.

“You and me, dinner tonight!  No skipping out, because I’m making something special!”

She could only see Alphys’ back.  She straightened up.  "Y-yeah! Yell at me if I forget!  Plus, we still have the last three episodes!"  

"I’m watching them alone if you don’t eat dinner with me!”

Alphys spun around.  "Don’t you dare!  I need to be there to see how you react when–“

"SPOILERS!”  Undyne shouted.  "I’m watching it tonight, with you or without you!“  Now she was sure Alphys would actually make it to dinner.

"I’ll be there!  I-I said I’d be there, and I mean it!”  

Alphys hurried downstairs, and Undyne grinned, imagining her setting herself a timer to make sure she didn’t miss dinner.  

Alphys had been hiding out more and more downstairs, lately.  The work was real, Undyne was sure, but she was _also_ sure Alphys could make a little time to talk about boring wedding stuff sometimes.  Undyne didn’t know what the hell she was doing, and Papyrus didn’t either but he was really good at looking like he had a plan so she had been leaving way too much up to him.  

Alphys was a few minutes late for dinner, a huge box of tissues under her arm.  "For the finale!“ she said.  

"SPOILERS, Alphys!”

They ate dinner in bed, huddled together under a blanket.  Eventually, they both forgot to eat, their eyes glued to the television set. Alphys had already seen the entire series six times, but she kept grabbing more and more tissues to wipe at her eyes.  Undyne vowed to tough it out and chewed a hole through the blanket in distress.

“I can’t believe it!” Undyne burst out, as the credits started rolling.  "I – dammit!  How could it end like that?  Is there more?  Are there twelve more seasons?  Alphys, you have to give me something here."

"It’s–Undyne, it’s all over!”  She cried against Undyne’s shoulder, and Undyne patted her back.  "It works thematically,“ she started, her voice muffled by Undyne’s shirt, "but even though it was the only way the story could have ended without betraying what was built up by the rest of the series, I still can’t accept it!”

“I don’t care if it’s thematic or whatever!  I want a happy ending!”

Alphys looked up.  Her glasses were smudged and her face was all red from crying.  "I…I maybe wrote something after the first time I watched it, but…"

"I want to read it RIGHT NOW!”

“It’s um…a no-one-dies AU, and–”

“I need it!  I can’t let it stand like this!”  

Alphys detached herself and pulled her laptop onto the bed.  "O-okay, but, remember that I was…really upset when I wrote it, so…"

"Got it!  I doubt I could type one word and spell it right after watching that!  The fact that you wrote a whole story is actually really amazing.”  

“R-really?  Maybe, but…it isn’t, um…that…great…”

“Shh! I’m reading!”  

“Augh, I can’t watch you read it!” Alphys pulled the blanket over her head.  

After Undyne finished, they fell asleep watching one of their old favorites to cool down.  They curled up together, surrounded by damp tissues and ripped pieces of blanket.  

 

\--

 

“you’re working yourself to the bone, paps,” Sans said, half-asleep in front of the television.  "let ‘em figure out their own party.“

"I WAS ASKED TO HELP, AND I WILL NOT LET UNDYNE DOWN!  THIS IS GOING TO BE THE HAPPIEST DAY OF HER LIFE, AND SHE IS ONLY GOING TO HAVE ME TO THANK.”  Also Undyne’s wife-to-be, Papyrus supposed, but getting married was going to make Undyne happy regardless of how much of a disaster the wedding was.  Papyrus’ job was to ensure _maximum_ happiness.  

“ok,” Sans said.  

But Alphys and Undyne both had vastly different wedding traditions!  Undyne’s parents would have been married in or completely under the water, and Alphys’ parents would have done…whatever it was they did in Hotland.  Probably something awful and uncomfortable that meant you couldn’t wear a skirt during the ceremony.  

He already had the traditional wedding puzzle lightly sketched out, but so much depended on location.  And he also knew that they both wanted to add in local surface customs, but which ones worked best with their own customs?  

His main hope was that they did not want to make it completely like one of their baby cartoon shows.

His hope was very quickly dashed.

“I guess we want something like the wedding in Princess Striker, except on the beach!”

“I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT AND ALSO REFUSE TO WATCH IT,” Papyrus said. “BUT A BEACH WEDDING SOUNDS VERY ROMANTIC.”

“I should send an invite to someone who hates me, so they’ll come to the wedding and fight me in front of everyone!  We can put on a real show, and I can prove how much I love Alphys by kicking someone’s ass!”  Undyne rapidly punched the air in front of her.  

“I DON’T THINK ANYONE HATES YOU?  YOU ARE INCREDIBLY POPULAR!”

“What’s the use of that if no one will fight you on your own wedding day?” she grumbled.  

He was not going to say this to Undyne, but he hoped that no one attacked her and nothing ended up being destroyed.  

But, he supposed that he needed to be realistic.  Undyne was going to destroy something.  Could he somehow predict what it would be?  Would it be every single thing?  Was it even possible to Undyne-proof something?  She could bench press an uncountable number of toddlers!  

He marked down: _BEACH VENUE??_    Undyne liked the water.  Alphys liked when it was sunny.  He could only guarantee one of those things, but despite that limitation he was positive everything would work out perfectly for their big day.  

Of course it would be perfect!  Renting a tent in case it rained would be completely unnecessary, but he  _might_ do that anyway, just because the best monsters were always prepared, even for things that were never going to happen.  

“uh.”

Papyrus paced around the living room, as a break from pacing around his bedroom.

“uh. bro.”

“SANS, I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF SOME IMPORTANT COMPLEX AND GENIUS THINKING AT THE MOMENT!  IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HELP, THEN MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!”

“ok.”

Papyrus stopped.  "OH NO!  THE STRESS FROM PLANNING THIS WEDDING HAS MADE ME SNAP AND BECOME CRUEL TO MY ONLY BROTHER!“  He ran over to the couch and grabbed at Sans’ arm. ”…WAIT.  WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?  SHOULDN’T YOU BE GETTING COATED IN A LAYER OF HAMBURGER GREASE BY NOW?“

"maybe i’m keeping an eye socket on you,” Sans said, winking.  

“NOT NECESSARY!  I, PAPYRUS, HAVE EVERYTHING COMPLETELY IN HAND!”  

“ok.”

Against his better judgment, he showed Sans what he was working on, just so that he could feel included.  Sans actually tried to help, probably because he could do so without getting up off the couch.  

“look, it’s not going to be perfect.  that’s part of the fun.  you can look back and reminisce about how everything went wrong years later.”

“I KNOW IT WON’T BE PERFECT!  BUT I JUST NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW IT WON’T BE PERFECT, AND PLAN AHEAD.”  He scanned over one of his lists.  "IT IS LIKE…BUILDING A PUZZLE!  YOU MUST IMAGINE YOURSELF AS THE PERSON TRYING TO SOLVE IT, ANTICIPATING THEIR ACTIONS BEFORE THEY START.“  

"sure.”

He looked over his brother, in his stained t-shirt and his pink slippers.  Sans’ head was back and he was dumping the leftover cheese dust from the bottom of a chip back into his mouth.  Most of it scattered onto his shirt.  

“BY THE WAY…”  Papyrus trailed off.  "DOT DOT DOT," he continued trailing off.  

"uh, now i’m worried,” Sans said.  "you’re pulling out the ellipses on me."  

"I HAVE SET UP AN APPOINTMENT FOR YOU TO GET MEASURED FOR A SUIT.”  Somehow, he had to make sure Sans was presentable for the wedding.

“ok.”

“SANS, I AM SURPRISED AND DELIGHTED!  I EXPECTED YOU TO PROTEST.  BUT THE PERSUASIVE POWERS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS CANNOT BE UNDERESTIMATED.”

“when’s it for?”  

“SANS. HOW NAIVE DO YOU THINK I AM?”  

“how can i go if i don’t–”

“I WILL TAKE CARE OF IT!”  

“it’s like you don’t trust your own brother.”

“THE PROBLEM IS THAT I DO TRUST YOU!”  He trusted Sans to be Sans, and whatever that entailed.  

Sans chuckled.  "i guess you got my number, bro.“  

He did, and everything was going to be perfect, no matter what.  

 


	3. Chapter 3

Sometimes, things were great!

Alphys was getting married!  She loved Undyne, so, _so_ much, and that was always going to be true.  This was just making it a little more formal.  With a party!  With…lots of people!  With…every person Alphys cared about in the audience, watching everything she did!  

Who wouldn’t want that?

And, apparently, every single part of planning a wedding involved meeting lots and lots of new people!  Alphys kind of wished she hadn’t proposed, except Undyne had also been planning on it, and she knew she could never have turned her down.  So this was always just going to happen!  

Great!!!!

When it was just the two of them talking over what they wanted, it all seemed so simple.  She could pick things she liked, compromise, and even put her foot down when she really didn’t like something.  But when they went somewhere and talked with someone, suddenly all she could do was feign getting sick and run into the bathroom.  She started pretending she was sick in the morning, and Undyne probably thought it was a relief that she didn’t have to deal with Alphys being weird all day.  God!!  

Papyrus did not have the same taste as Alphys did, but it was just so easy to let him do…everything.  She just needed to hide in her room for three more months, and then there would be one completely horrible day and it would be over!  If Undyne could still stand to look at her, there would be a nice vacation (some humans called it a “honeymoon,” which was so cute!) and then everything would be back to normal.  Except it would be like a “new game +” that you sometimes earned after you beat a video game the first time.  Everything would be the same, except Undyne would be her wife!  

God, she was such a coward.  She got sick to her stomach just looking at herself.

–

“Darling, I want to say ‘you look beautiful, like you’re glowing!’ but you know me.  I have to be brutally honest.”  Mettaton’s panel was open and Alphys was peering at his insides with a flashlight.  "You look like a dump truck ran you over.  Emotionally!  Physically, you look fine."  

"But how can I get run over by something when I’m inside it?” Alphys wondered, idly.  "Ok, I see the problem.“  She yanked a partially charred pink feather out from between two sensitive components.  

"Oh no.  Did something happen?  Did you do something?  No, let me guess. You didn’t do something you should have.”

“God. That’s….that’s exactly right.  I guess I’m predictable!  It’s just Alphys and her regular old issues again!”  

“Well, yes.  It’s not like you built yourself with a switch to turn them off, darling.  You should be happy!  Whatever you’re not happy about, you should change it.”

How easy!  Why didn’t she think of that?  "It would probably be easier to just b-build a b-better version of myself and let Undyne m-marry her,“ Alphys said, miserably.  

"Don’t be ridiculous!  You know your Undyne is 100% in favor of the real genuine article.  She would never accept a substitution.”

“At least the fake me would actually help her with the wedding,” she said.  She shut and sealed the panel, and pulled her goggles up off her glasses.  "Instead of pretending she’s sick to get out of everything." 

"Well, making her do all the work _is_ a little rude, but she probably understands.”

“I can’t skip out on picking out a dress.  I can’t let Papyrus go in my place.”

“He’s not really your size.  It’s true.”  

“I shouldn’t be skipping out on any of it.”  

“Well, maybe,” he said, suddenly gentle.  "But I don’t know that you’re hurting anyone?  The two of them are probably having a great time."  He stretched out his noodly arms, testing them, and then activated his legs.  The transition was smooth again, so at least some problems had a simple fix.  He put one leg up onto the work table and stretched.  

"I think she’s…worried about me,” Alphys said.  "She…keeps talking to me like…like I’m going to break if she…"  She trailed off, and sighed.  "Maybe I would.  Maybe this was all a horrible idea.”

“You’re turning it into a catastrophe, darling.  Maybe you should be doing all sorts of things, but if you could step back and see that this isn’t a _disaster,_ well, maybe you could talk to her a little about what’s bothering you.”

“If I’m going to marry her, then I have to get better at that. At…t-talking about everything.  Or else there’s no way it will work out, right?”

“See, there it is again.  You’re having a little trouble communicating, and now you’re imagining a divorce.”

“N-no I wasn’t, Mettaton!  But now I am! Oh my god, thank you for all your help!”  

“If you were expecting _me_ to fix all your problems, well, I’m _flattered_ but–”

“No, I’m sorry,” she said.  "You’re right, though.  I do always do this, don’t I?  And this isn’t anything as bad as…“ Memories of an experiment gone wrong flashed through her mind, and the words died in her throat.

"On the bright side, there’s always _that_ to compare things to, isn’t there, darling.”

“That…also…isn’t helping.  But, I mean, you’re right.  About me talking to her, not about…comparing everything to–”  She shook her head.  

“You knew I was right about that.  Before I said anything.”

“Y-yeah, I guess.”

“I would say 'talking to your girlfriend when you’re having a problem isn’t rocket science,’ but rocket science would probably be a little bit easier.”

“I would build a hundred rockets rather than do this.  But, I…I _have_ to do this.”  Well, it was probably actually possible to avoid it forever, but not if she wanted to be a better person and a better future wife.  

“That’s right.  You just needed a little encouragement.”  

“Yeah!  You’re really good at that, Mettaton.”

“Yes, aren’t I?”  

He stretched his legs a little more and Alphys ran a few tests.  They changed the subject to human celebrities they thought were attractive, and for a little while it was just like the old human fanclub.  

–

“So, uh, I know I haven’t been….responsible lately.  There’s all this stuff I should be doing, but I’m not?  I’m sorry to just make you do it all, Undyne.”

“I thought maybe you had some kind of horrible stomach condition, so this is way better!”  Undyne said.  "Nah, Alphys, I know you hate dealing with people, and Papyrus likes to be included, so I’m not super pissed about this or anything."    

Alphys felt something start to unwind in her gut.  "You…don’t mind?”

“Save your energy for the really important stuff!  Like you kind of have to be there when we pick out what we’re going to wear, right?”

Alphys thought she could probably pick out a dress online, but she knew Undyne liked to be around when she picked out clothes.  And she…liked that Undyne liked that.  A lot.  She nodded.  "It’s just…with humans, I k-keep wondering what they think of me. What…awful things…they…"  She shook her head.  "And with monsters, I wonder if they’re thinking that maybe I don’t deserve to be happy, for what I did?  And…maybe I don’t deserve that.  Maybe they’re right.  But…I think I have to be happy sometimes, anyway.  But I still think about what they think about me, and…”  She trailed off, flustered and miserable.  She wasn’t sure she was making sense.

Undyne whacked her on the back, reassuringly.  "Hey, it’s not like you’re doing nothing, Alphys!  You’re doing all the boring paperwork I don’t want to do.  And you’re going to figure out some sneaky way to pay Papyrus for taking off work to help me out, because when I said I was going to, he said he wouldn’t accept it!  And then jumped out of the car when I yelled at him!  He really nailed the landing, though."

Alphys had been avoiding the paperwork, too, because it made her think about all the other things she was avoiding doing.  But if she thought of it as how she was making up for not meeting people, and as helping out Undyne, maybe she could do that again.  "I can…probably d-do something about that.  Something sneaky.”  

“Yeah!  Maybe I can knock out a tooth and when he puts it under a pillow, we can slip some hundreds under there!”  

“…we’ll call that Plan B!  Let me try something else out, first!”  

“Yeah!” She pulled Alphys into a hug.  "Look at us, talking this over! We’re going to be awesome at being married.“  

"Y-yeah!” Alphys agreed.  "Because we’re going to work hard at it and, and, keep trying!"

So maybe things _weren’t_ great.  Maybe they were just kind of okay, and sometimes pretty awful.  Maybe the happiest day of her life was just going to be really stressful.  

Having friends who cared about her and a girlfriend who listened made up for a lot.  That was great, at least.  And maybe more important than a perfect, happy wedding.  


	4. Chapter 4

“You look quite wonderful, my child,” Toriel said, kneeling next to Frisk.  She adjusted their tie, with care, and then settled a crown of flowers on their head.  "You are growing up so quickly, soon you will be as tall as I am!“  She carefully pinned the crown to their head and stood up.  She towered over her child, and they both knew she would, forever.  

Frisk smiled and, for the first time in quite a while, asked her to lift them up.  

She obliged.  "See?  I was correct, even sooner than I expected.”

Frisk kissed the top of her head, between her horns, and then made a face and pulled a piece of fur out of their mouth.  They both laughed and she set them down. 

There had been so many weddings since they reached the surface, but Undyne and Alphys were such close friends that Frisk was not even trying to contain their excitement.  It was rubbing off on Toriel.  Weddings usually brought things to the surface of her mind that she would rather stay buried, and this one was no exception, but she would at least try to have a nice time.  

“Remember that you promised me a dance,” she said.  

Of course they would remember.  

 

–

 

Sans knew how to tie a tie, he just didn’t _want_ to.  He’d helped Papyrus with his, earlier, but his own hung loosely around his neck like a too-thin silk scarf.  The laces of his shoes were already coming undone, and his suit jacket was unbuttoned.  His collar was uneven.  

He was still better dressed than he had been in more years than he wanted to count.  

Papyrus was a blur, dashing from place to place, his phone glued to the side of his skull.  Sans could always tell where he was, his brother’s voice loud enough for him to hear Papyrus’ half of every conversation.  Sans sat on the couch, turned on the TV, and waited until it was time to leave.  

Every time Papyrus crossed through the room, he would fix Sans’ collar or his shoes and run off to shout in another room of the house.  When he passed through the next time, some other part of Sans’ outfit would be in disarray.  Papyrus rearranged his brother again and moved on.  

Grillby rang the doorbell just as Sans finally nodded off.  He got up and opened the door for him, rubbing at his eye sockets.  

He gave Grillby a once over.  He was clutching an umbrella pretty tightly in his hand, considering it wasn’t supposed to rain.  His tux looked good on him, but everything did.  Sans was pretty lucky, having such a hot date for the wedding.  "off the cuff, i’d say that look suits you,“ Sans said.  He chuckled at himself.

”…“ Grillby reached down and fixed Sans’ collar.  

 

–

 

Asgore preferred clothes he could work in, that wouldn’t be ruined by gardening, but every now and then he wanted the effect of his royal clothes.  Today was a big day.  An important day!  Little Undyne was getting married!

He still remembered her as a child, covered in cuts from old fights and throwing herself into new ones.  She was so willful!  And now she was grown up and starting a family and–oh.  He was tearing up.  He dabbed at his eyes with an elegant handkerchief.  

She had asked him to perform the wedding.  He was going to overheat in his cape, and his crown was going to feel molten in the sun even through his fur, but by golly he was going to look his best marrying little Undyne and Alphys.  

 

–

 

"Fifty bucks,” Undyne said.  "That’s my final offer.  Take it or leave it.“  The tension in the air was palpable.  "There’s a list as long as my arm with names of other wimps looking for a chance to do this, but I picked you.”  

“Well, I’m flattered, y'hear!  But I don’t know.  Things could get outta hand real fast, and then where’d I be?”  

Undyne smacked them on the tentacle and grinned.  "Nothing’s going to go wrong!  It’ll be fun!  Sixty bucks."  

"Well…can I pick what I wear?”

“Just make sure it’s cool!”

“Well, in that case, I guess…”

“Great! I need you in place by one!  And don’t tell anyone!”

“Oh my, this is exciting!”  

 

–

 

“You look lovely, darling,” Mettaton said.  He was lounging on Alphys’ bed, not even looking at her.  

“..d-do I?  I don’t know, Mettaton.  Maybe I should have done something more, uh, t-traditional?”  Alphys was staring at herself in the mirror.  She was wondering if her face looked like it was puffing up, like she was having an allergy attack.  Thank god for the veil.  

“Alphys, look.  Of course it’s a little…well, how do I put it?  It’s very  _you_ to have this whole cosplay theme, but the outfit itself is fine.  If you dressed _traditionally_ , it would be less _you_.  And it’s your wedding, not mine.”  

Napstablook was floating around, crying out and trying out different ties.  

“There is actually a far more important question,” Mettaton said.  He sat up and crossed his legs.  "Is _my_ costume ready?  Is it in working order?“

"It’s as ready as it’ll ever be,” Alphys said, nervous.  She saw the look on Mettaton’s face and continued, quickly: “I mean, I am completely confident!  W-well, not completely, I guess.  I don’t know that I’ve ever really…had complete…confidence in…”  She broke off and covered her face.  "It’s going to work!  Don’t worry!"

"I’m not worried, darling.  But stop touching your face or you’ll smudge your makeup.”  

 

–

 

Gerson’s armor was polished and shining for the occasion.  He had a ribbon tied around his hammer.  His arms were going to get tired, hauling that old thing around all day.  No, not the hammer.  His old, aching body.  

He was on the beach bright and early, while everyone was still setting up.  Undyne’s skeleton friend was running around in a frenzy – what was his name, again?  Oh well.  It would come back to him eventually.

Gerson knew he would be leaving early, so he took a minute to track down Undyne and congratulate her.  

King Fluffybuns was already with her.  He’d look stiff and formal, except his eyes were all red from weeping and being dabbed at with a handkerchief.  Between him and the skeleton, the two of them would raise the level of the ocean with their crying, before the wedding even started!  

What was that skeleton’s name?  It wasn’t Comic - that was the brother.  Gerson was sure of that one, because he’d seen his show back at the old underground MTT Resort.  Had he liked it?  He’d forgotten to reserve silverware, so he’d spent most of the meal trying to figure out how to eat.  He hadn’t given the show much attention.  

Parchment? Palatino?  No, he didn’t have it quite yet.  

Undyne was in armor, too, so when she saw Gerson she yelled as loud as she could and came running towards him, slamming into him full force in a combination hug/body check.  The metal banging together made a deafening noise, but luckily Gerson was already losing his hearing.  

Papyrus! That was right.  He knew he’d remember if he gave himself enough time.


	5. Chapter 5

Alphys made a tiny little mistake.  She peeked outside to see how many people there were.  

She froze.  She knew the number, in theory, but seeing all those people wandering around, and knowing that some guests weren’t even there yet–

Oh, god.  

There were people she barely knew out there.  And there were her friends, who liked her, but who maybe – maybe she would mess up so bad they –

She had been so close to not freaking out!  "Pull it together, Alphys!“ she ordered herself.  It didn’t help.  "I’m…I’m going to get a little air,” she called back into the tent, her voice quivering slightly at the end.  She ran out before anyone answered.  

She was not very good at being sneaky, but she only had to pretend to be cheerful to a few people before she got to the parking lot, by her and Undyne’s car.  She got in and closed and locked the door behind her.

She forced herself to take deep breaths.  

God! She wanted to get married!  She wanted this!  She had wanted it for so long!  

She hadn’t touched her face, she could have _sworn_ , but her makeup was starting to smudge.  Mettaton was going to be angry, now, too. Undyne was going to be so upset.  She was ruining _everything_.

_Stop turning everything into a catastrophe!_

Thinking that at herself over and over again wasn’t helping.  

_Turning everything into a catastrophe in your head is what’s ruining everything in real life!_

That still did not help.  

“Alphys?”

Alphys pressed her face against her knees.  

Undyne was pounding against the window.  "Hey, Alphys!  I saw you running off.  What’s up?“  

"I’m fine!” Alphys called out, shrill.  "Completely f-fine!!!!"

"Are you freaking out?”  There was a pause.  "Hey, Alphys." The door opened, even though Alphys had locked it when she got in. Alphys looked over and saw Undyne had casually ripped the door completely off.  

"Whoops.”  Undyne tossed the door aside.  

_If I wasn’t freaking out, I’d be thinking about how much I love that about her.  That she just rips doors off their hinges and can pick me up and slam dunk me and…_

Alphys sighed.  "Ok.  I’m kind of freaking out!“ she said.

Undyne sat next to her and put her strong arm around Alphys’ shoulders. "You know if you don’t want to do this anymore, I’ll just tell everyone to scram, right?”

“I want to do this!  I…I want to marry you so much, and everything is so nice, and there are so many people here who…who care about us…I just…”  She turned and grabbed Undyne’s face.  " _There are so many people here!!  Oh my god!!!_  They’re all going to be looking at me!   They’re p-probably thinking things about me right this second!"  She started.  "Oh my god, you look so amazing, Undyne.”

“You look hot, too!” Undyne said.  "Let’s skip the wedding and make out!" 

Alphys laughed.  "N-no.  I mean.  We can…we can do that later, but…I am definitely marrying you today.  I just have to…take some more deep breaths!  Count to a million!”

“Smooch your girlfriend!”

“Smooch my girlfriend!”  She laughed, again, and smooched her girlfriend.  "I…feel a lot better already, actually.  I think when you ripped the car door off, it…kind of distracted me?  I mean, I’ve been waiting for something to go wrong, and now our car is kind of broken so…"

"Like you can’t fix that in ten seconds,” Undyne scoffed.  

“Oh, that’s it!  I’ll reattach the door, and maybe doing something mundane like that will…calm me down?”

“Yeah! I think you’ve got this figured out,” Undyne said.  "And I’ll rip anything off of anything or anyone if it’ll make you happy, babe!"

"…ohmygod.  Okay.  That’s…that’s so…romantic?"  

Alphys’ legs were a little wobbly when she got out of the car, but grabbing the tool box out of the trunk and reattaching a door was a soothingly easy puzzle to solve.  It didn’t fit perfectly, since Undyne had broken part of it, but it would stay on until Alphys had access to the rest of her tools.  

Alphys had grease smeared on her cheek.  Undyne didn’t mention it.  She thought it suited her.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun beat down on the crowd; the ocean breeze coming in off the water was only a slight relief from the overwhelming heat.  

Undyne was _pumped_.  Her armor felt like she was wearing molten lava, and her hair felt like it was melting under her helmet, but the day being unbearably hot was just another thing making it _perfect_.  It was as hot as her feelings were for Alphys!  Even the weather itself was on her side!  The earth could have split open under her feet, and she would have been sure it was a sign that today was a great day to get married.  

“M-my legs feel like…jello, and…and I think I’m going t-to throw up,” Alphys said, quietly, next to her.  "I can’t believe we’re really here, about to d-do this!“

"If you don’t think you can walk, I’ll carry you!” Undyne gripped Alphys’ shoulder and gave her intense eye contact to show her how sincere she was.  

“That would be…I don’t know?  I kind of….Would that be too weird?”

“Who cares!”  In one swift motion, Undyne had Alphys in her arms.  

“Oh my god!”  

The music outside their little tent jumped up in volume.  That was their cue.  

“NGYAAAAAAAH!”  Undyne burst out of the tent and ran towards the platform where Asgore was waiting for them.  She set Alphys down and grinned at the audience.  They cheered and she waved.  

Undyne wanted this done fast, while they were both pumped full of adrenaline and before Alphys had time to get super nervous again.  

She spotted Papyrus in the front row, weeping, a pile of damp tissues in his lap.  Undyne gave him an extra-wide grin, which just made him cry even harder.  

She wondered why Gerson was sitting next to him, and not his brother.  But then she noticed way, way in the back, where there wasn’t even really sand anymore, a small cluster of Hotland monsters sitting on blankets, well away from the water.  Sans was probably hanging out with them.  

Alphys was shrinking next to her.  Undyne grabbed Alphys’ hands and faced her.  "Hey, Alphys,“ she said, "Look at me a second.”

Alphys looked up at her.  Not looking at everyone else calmed her down, for the moment.  

Asgore beamed at both of them.  He rested his enormous paws on each of their shoulders.  "Today,“ he started.

Onionsan burst out of the water, interrupting him.  The monster had grown significantly since they came to the surface.  The sunglasses they were wearing, to look cool, were the size of a truck.  

"Oh, sh–” Undyne remembered all the kids in the audience.  "Shoot!“ She should have canceled the thing with Onionsan when she realized Alphys was freaking out.  

"Wh-what?” Alphys asked, weakly.  

“I’m Onionsan, y'hear!  And this party isn’t getting started until, uh–” They pulled a tentacle out of the water and read off the rest of their script, “until–”

Loud anime music started playing out of the speakers and an enormous robot emerged from the water.  It was the size of a building and mostly pink.  "No interruptions, darling!"  The robot punched Onionsan in the face.

"Yeah! T-take that!” Alphys yelled.  "No one’s…no one’s ruining my wedding!"  

"Oh my god!  Did you build your friend a mech body so he could fight anyone who tried to mess this day up?”  Undyne watched Onionsan wrap a tentacle around Mettaton’s neck.  They were both so big they had to fight pretty far off shore, but the wedding party was still getting wet.  

“Babe,” Undyne said, “I’m so freaking in love with you right now, I’m going to explode.  Let’s do this!”

“Should we not…wait until they are finished?” Asgore wondered.

“Nah!  What a great background for our wedding smooch!”

“Let’s do this!” Alphys agreed.  

A huge wave broke over them, and they both started to laugh when they saw Asgore with all his finery soaked through, his beard dripping and his crown half falling off his head.  

He chuckled.  He was now significantly cooler, but he wasn't sure he would be able to move under the weight of all the wet cloth.  "All right.  Today," he started again, his voice getting louder to be heard over the battle happening behind him, "We are here to witness the commitment between two cherished members of our community.”  He spoke for a while, and between his words and all the splashing in the water, there was barely a dry eye on the beach by the time he was done.

Undyne teared up herself, a little, when he mentioned how he viewed her as a daughter.  She hoped everyone thought she was crying because she was so moved by all the fighting.  

“And, with all the authority I have,” Asgore said, clasping his damp paws together, “I join these two monsters together for as long as there is love and compassion in their souls, and for as long as they both shall live.”  

Alphys and Undyne kissed.  Mettaton threw Onionsan further out to sea, behind them, at that exact moment.  They had the photograph of their wedding smooch blown up and framed and they displayed it prominently in their home.

“Okay!” Alphys whispered.  "Now, let’s get out of here before I pass out!"

"Yeah!” Undyne flung Alphys over her shoulder and jumped off the platform.  Loud cheers erupted behind them.


End file.
